Hackensack University Medical Center named top hospital in New Jersey again

Hackensack University Medical Center was named the top hospital in New Jersey for the second consecutive year and earned national rankings in 10 specialties, according to the U.S. News & World Report rankings that were released this morning.

The accolades helped Hackensack take another step up in the New York Metro Area rankings as it jumped one spot to No. 3 in the 2013-14 U.S. News Best Hospitals list, trailing only New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell and NYU Langone Medical Center in the region.

"This year's rankings demonstrate, once again, that New Jersey residents don't need to cross the Hudson to get the best possible healthcare," Robert C. Garrett, president and chief executive officer of Hackensack University Health Network, said. "Further, our ranking in the top three hospitals in the entire NY Metro area, among some of the best hospitals in the world, suggests residents throughout the region should actively consider HackensackUMC for their health needs."

HackensackUMC's Garrett was especially pleased with the wide variety of national distinction among its specialties. Only three percent of all hospitals earn even one ranking.

In addition to the Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital recently being named among the top 50 best children's hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery, HackensackUMC received nine national rankings:

Cancer

Cardiology & Heart Surgery

Ear, Nose & Throat

Gastroenterology & GI Surgery

Geriatrics

Neurology & Neurosurgery

Orthopedics

Pulmonology

Urology

The medical center was also listed as high-performing in the New York metro area in: Diabetes & Endocrinology, Gynecology, and Nephrology.

Morristown Medical Center was ranked 8th in the metro area and 2nd on the New Jersey regional list, with three nationally-ranked specialties and eight high-performing specialties.

Morristown earned its national ranking in Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Geriatrics and Gynecology.

JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison was ranked 3rd in New Jersey; Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation of West Orange was 4th; and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick was 5th.

U.S. News evaluates hospitals in 16 adult specialties. In most specialties, it ranks the nation's top 50 hospitals and recognizes other high-performing hospitals that provide care at nearly the level of their nationally ranked peers. The Best Hospital rankings, now in their 24th year, recognize hospitals that excel in treating the most challenging patients.

"A hospital that emerges from our analysis as one of the best has much to be proud of," said Avery Comarow, U.S. News Health Rankings editor. "Only about 15 percent of hospitals are recognized for their high performance as among their region's best."

U.S. News publishes Best Hospitals to help guide patients who need a high level of care because they face particularly difficult surgery, a challenging condition, or added risk because of other health problems or age. Objective measures such as patient survival and safety data, the adequacy of nurse staffing levels and other data largely determined the rankings in most specialties.

The specialty rankings and data were produced for U.S. News by RTI International, a leading research organization based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Using the same data, U.S. News produced the state and metro rankings.

"These rankings are not only a testament to the world-class care our HackensackUMC team implements, but also reflects the supportive and encouraging environment that HackensackUMC provides to its medical team," said Ihor S. Sawczuk, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer.

The rankings will appear in the U.S. News Best Hospitals 2014 guidebook.